How to remove "program" from startup

How to know if you have keylogger in Windows

Hello and welcome everyone, today we will be talking about dreaded keyloggers, why they are dangerous, and how to know if you might have one in your system. Keylogger is a malicious application placed in your system and hidden with only one goal in mind, to get information about what are you typing and by that means for a person who infected you to get information about your credit card information or other sensitive data. They can be introduced into your systems in various ways and often can not be detected easily. Modern antivirus applications have ways of detecting them and removing but this tutorial aims to teach you how to spot them all by yourself since new keyloggers are produced daily and sometimes relying on antivirus alone is not enough. Unlike viruses and trojans, keyloggers are not heavy on system resources and you will not feel slow down on your computer if you have one which makes them harder to sport with regular work. Some of them can be even tracking you on the website and not even be physically present on your computer. Generally, we could categorize keylogger into 4 categories:

Web browser-based keylogger. Some websites would have CSS scripts, input web forms, or so-called man in the middle keylogger. Lucky for us even Windows defenders with the latest update can detect this type of keylogger and successfully deal with it and how keylogger itself is not present on our system we are safe.
General spyware keylogger. This keylogger is present in your system, usually, it infected it via email attachment, social media download, torrent download, some malicious so-called fixer application, etc. Most antivirus applications and windows defenders can detect these types as well and remove them successfully.
Kernel-level keylogger. This keylogger is a more dangerous type they tend to operate underneath Windows as a rootkit and can go undetected by antivirus and windows defenders.
Hypervisor-based keylogger. This is the most dangerous keylogger, they use virtualization techniques to hide and mask themselves as a replica of the operating system and they scan all keystrokes by the user. These are very rare keyloggers but they do exist.

If you suspect that you have a keylogger or just want to check your system for precaution reasons follow these tips and guides and luckily you will solve your issue in no time and your data will be safe.

Use Task Manager to find suspicious entries.
Task manager is a great application implemented in Windows that is constantly monitoring and showing all services, applications, and processes currently running on your system and thus a great tool to monitor your system if you know how to use it. First, open task manager by pressing CTRL + SHIFT + ESC Then take a good look into it, try to find suspicious names, probably duplicate of running application, something like Windows logon application, or keylog or anything similar which seems out of ordinary. If you manage to find a suspicious running application right-click on it and close it. Also while you are in task manager jump into the startup tab and check to see are there some unusual applications starting with your Windows, if you find anything, disable it right away. This is the most simple and quickest way to get some information right away if you suspect to have some simpler keylogger in your system.
Use the command prompt to monitor your network.
In order to check connections to your computer and find potential suspicious ones start the command prompt in administrator mode, press ⊞ Win + X, and choose command prompt (administrator). type in netstat -b and press ENTER. All website and application connections to your computer are now visible. ignore svchost, edge browser, windows store, etc ad check the IP of the remaining ones using the internet.
Use keystroke encryption.
Install encrypting software and even if you have a keylogger, the application will encrypt each stroke and all that attacker will get is gibberish

Please remember to always download files from trusted sources, do not open unknown emails, and do not share your information publicly. Take common protection steps in order to protect yourself in the digital world.

Fixing Error 0x80070057 in Windows 10

Whether you’re using Windows Update or upgrading or installing on your Windows 10 computer, you can’t really tell if things will go smoothly as there are times when you might encounter some issues that prevent you from completing the update or upgrade or the installation. One of the errors you can encounter is error 0x80070057. Usually, when you receive this error, it means that one or more arguments are not valid. You can encounter this error in the following cases:

Windows Update, Upgrade, or Installation
Windows Backup, The parameter is incorrect
Partitioning a Disk
System Image Restore error 0x80070057
Downloading Windows Store apps

Keep in mind that the troubleshooting steps you need to take will depend on the scenarios you are in. Thus, you need to go over each one of the troubleshooting options given below and make sure to carefully follow each one of them but before you proceed, you have to create a System Restore Point first.

Option 1 – Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter

The first thing you can do to fix error 0x80070057 is by running the Windows Update Troubleshooter. It is a built-in tool in Windows that helps users resolve any issues with Windows Update. All you need to do to run it is go to Settings and then select Troubleshoot from the options. From there, click on Windows Update and then click the “Run the troubleshooter” button.

Option 2 – Use the Registry Editor

If you get the error 0x80070057 during Windows Backup, then you need to make some modifications to the Windows Registry. To do so, follow these steps:

Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
Type “Regedit” in the field and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
Next, navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftSystem

Then create a new DWORD value and input “CopyFileBufferedSynchronousIo” as its name and put “1” as its value.
Close the Registry Editor and restart your computer then check if the error is fixed or not.

Option 3 – Run the DISM tool

Running the DISM Tool helps in repairing the Windows System Image as well as the Windows Component Store in Windows 10. Using this built-in tool, you have various options such as the “/ScanHealth”, “/CheckHealth”, and “/RestoreHealth”.

Open the Command Prompt with admin privileges.
Then type in the following commands and make sure to hit Enter right after you type each one of them:
- Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
- Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
- exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
Do not close the window if the process takes a while as it will probably take a few minutes to finish.

Note: If it happens that the Windows Update client is broken, you need to run the following command to repair it then restart your PC and click on Update once again.

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:C:RepairSourceWindows /LimitAccess

Option 4 – Flush the contents of the SoftwareDistribution folder

You have to stop a couple of services such as BITS, Cryptographic, MSI Installer, and Windows Update Services. And to do that, you need to flush the contents in the SoftwareDistribution folder. The Software Distribution folder in the Windows operating system is a folder that can be found in the Windows directory and is used to store files temporarily which might be required to install the Windows Update on your PC. Thus, it is required by the Windows Update and maintained by WUAgent. Aside from that, it also contains all the Windows Update History files and once you delete them, you will most likely lose the Update history. As a result, the next time you run the Windows Update, it may result in a longer detection time.

Open the WinX Menu.
From there, open Command Prompt as admin.
Then type in the following command – don’t forget to hit Enter right after typing each one of them.

net stop wuauserv net start cryptSvc net start bits net start msiserver

After entering these commands, it will stop the Windows Update Service, Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), Cryptographic, and the MSI Installer
Next, go to the C:/Windows/SoftwareDistribution folder and get rid of all the folders and files thereby tapping the Ctrl + A keys to select them all and then click on Delete. Note that if the files are in use, you won’t be able to delete them.

Option 5 – Reset Windows Store Cache

Right-click on the start button and click on Command Prompt (administrator).
Next, type in the command, “wsreset.exe” and tap Enter. Once you do, the command will clear the cache for the Windows Store app.

Option 6 – Run SFC scan

Running the SFC scan or System File Checker might also help in fixing error 0x80070057.

Tap Win + R to launch Run.
Type in cmd in the field and tap Enter.
After opening Command Prompt, type in sfc /scannow and hit Enter.

The command will start a system scan which will take a few whiles before it finishes. Once it’s done, you could get the following results:

Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.
Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.

Screen of death colors in Windows 10

Receiving a screen of death is not a pleasant experience at all and most users would agree that they would very much like not to face one during their work with the computer. Sadly PC is not a perfect machine and it is not working in a perfect environment so errors happen. The most famous and well-known death screen is blue which is also the most common one, my bet would be that there is not a user which has not been faced with this blue error screen. There is no simple explanation why these stop errors occur as several factors can be involved. However, it is known that the malfunctioning of hardware drivers or drivers that are installed by third-party software drive this unwanted change. But did you know that there is more colors for infamous death screens and not just blue one? Microsoft has coded different errors to different colors in the goal for the technical team to be aware right away of what type and kind of error they are dealing with. Color for screen errors are: Blue, Black, Pink, Brown, Yellow, Red, Orange, Green and White If you are interested in what color represents what keep reading.

BLUE

A stop error or exception error commonly called the blue screen of death (BSoD) or blue screen, is an error screen displayed on Windows computers following a fatal system error. It indicates a system crash, in which the operating system has reached a condition where it can no longer operate safely. This is caused by many different problems, such as a general hardware failure or a crucial process terminating unexpectedly.

BLACK

On Windows 10 systems, a Black Screen of Death can be caused by an unfinished Windows Update. To resolve this problem, simply hold the power button down on your PC or laptop to switch off the computer. A cold start should result in the system booting properly.

PINK

It is a diagnostic screen with a white type on a pink background. Pink Screen is mainly seen when the VMkernel of an ESX/ESXi host experiences a critical error, becomes inoperative, and terminates any virtual machines that are running. It is not fatal and generally considered more of a developer testing issue. When encountered, it can be fixed quickly by following the simple action of pressing and holding your computer’s power button to shut down the device.

BROWN

The Microsoft Windows 10 Operating System Brown Screen of Death is an on-screen fatal error notification with bug check codes which is seen when a computer crashes due to graphics hardware or software-related problems (failing graphics drivers).

YELLOW

It affects the functioning of a browser, particularly Mozilla Firefox. The Yellow Screen of Death makes the appearance with a weird buzzing sound in the background when the XML parser refuses to process an XML document causing a parsing error and a weird buzzing sound. The issue persists unless the computer is manually rebooted.

RED

Commonly the Windows 10 red screen is caused due to the hardware error, particularly if you overclock your Windows PC/laptop. Despite this, sometimes the red screen of death is also caused by outdated or incompatible drivers or due to BIOS issues.

ORANGE

The Orange Screen of Death on Windows occurs due to fatal hardware errors. Multiple reasons have been reported for the Orange Screen of Death. Some had this issue when watching a YouTube video, some were not able to boot into Windows. It can even occur when waking up from Sleep.

GREEN

The green screen of death only appears when you're running an Insider Preview version of Windows 10. It's the same as the blue screen of death, and it will show the same error messages. ... If you see a green screen of death (GSOD) on your PC, that's a sign you're using an Insider Preview build of Windows 10.

WHITE

The White Screen on Windows is also an error where the screen of the computer just turns white and freezes. There can be several things that can cause the white screen to appear on the Windows laptop monitor. But the main issue could be because of malfunctioning of the graphics hardware.

Disable Speech Recognition feature in Windows

Speech Recognition is a technology used to control computers using voice commands. Through this feature, you can say commands that your computer will respond to, and aside from that, you can also dictate text to your computer which eliminates the need to type words in any word processing program or text editor. All in all, the Speech Recognition feature allows you to communicate with your computer and improves your computer’s ability to understand your own voice better as well as improve its diction accuracy. However, before you can improve its accuracy, you need to “train the feature” first. And if so far you are not satisfied with its performance, you actually have the option to disable it. So in this post, you will be guided on how you can disable the Speech Recognition feature in Windows 10 v1809.

To disable Speech Recognition on your computer, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Go to Settings > Ease of Access. Step 2: From there, go to Speech. Step 3: Now switch off the toggle button for Speech Recognition to disable this feature. On the other hand, you can also disable the Online Speech Recognition feature if you really don’t want to have anything to do with it. You have two options to do that – you can either do it using Settings or using the Registry Editor.

Disable Online Speech Recognition feature via Settings:

Click on the Start button and select Settings.
Next, go to the Privacy section and click on the Speech option located at the right pane.
Then switch the toggle button off to turn off the Online Speech Recognition feature.

Note: Speech services exist on your computer and even in the cloud since Microsoft collects essential information from these services in order to enhance user experience and if you want to stop this, you have to turn off the “Getting to know you” option under the “Inking and typing Personalization” section.

Disable Online Speech Recognition feature via Registry Editor:

Before you proceed, you need to create a System Restore Point first.

Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
Then type “Regedit” in the field and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
Next, navigate to the following registry path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftSpeech_OneCoreSettingsOnlineSpeechPrivacy

After that, check the default value of the “HasAccepted” key located in the right pane. As you can see its value is set to “1” which means that the Speech Recognition feature is enabled. And so to change it, you have to set “0” as its new value to permanently disable the feature.
Just double click on the key and change the value from “1” to “0”. Keep in mind that even if you are using a 64-bit Windows 10 computer, you still have to create a 32-bit DWORD value.
After that, restart your computer to apply the changes made.

Network License NotAvailable15.570.0 Autodesk

If when trying to start Autodesk applications you receive a Network license not available error then please keep on reading, this guide is for you:

Causes of the error:

The license on the License Server is invalid.
The port for Autodesk Network License Manager is blocked.
The client computer is configured with incorrect license server information.
The license request is timing out on the client's computer before the license is obtained.

Solutions for the error:

Verify that the Autodesk License Server is setup with the correct license file.

To set up a license server for Windows, perform the following:

Download and install the Network License Manager for Windows:
Open LMTools and access the System Settings tab. Make a note of the "hostname" and "ethernet address" of the license server.
Generate a Network License File in Autodesk Account.
On the Service/License tab, select Configuration Using Services and LMTOOLS ignores license file path environment variables.
On the Config Services tab, enter a name for the new service in the Service Name field.
Fill the following fields, using the Browse buttons:
- Path to the lmgrd.exe - Navigate to this file: C:\Autodesk\Network License Manager.
- Path to the License file - Navigate to the new Autodesk.lic file, typically placed in: C:\Autodesk\Network License Manager\Licenses.
- Path to the Debug Log file: C:\Autodesk\Network License Manager.
- If no file is present, create a TXT file in Notepad and rename it “Debug.log.”
Make sure the "Start Server at Power Up" and the "Use Services" boxes are checked. Then click Save Services.
On the Start/Stop/Reread tab, click Start Server.
On the Server Status tab, click Perform Status Enquiry.
Licenses should display as active.

How to set up the Autodesk Network License Manager on a Mac.

Note: The Autodesk License Server Manager (version 11.16.2.0) is supported only on the following Mac operating systems:

Apple macOS High Sierra 10.13
Apple macOS Sierra 10.12
Apple Mac OS X El Capitan 10.11

Download Autodesk Network License Manager version 11.16.2.0 for Mac
- Download the nlm11.16.2.0_ipv4_ipv6_mac_universal.tar.gz file to the Desktop.
To install the Autodesk Network License Manager:
- Double click on nlm11.16.2.0_ipv4_ipv6_mac_universal.tar.gz to unpack the installer package.
- After unpacking nlm11.16.2.0_ipv4_ipv6_mac_universal.pkg, will be /Downloads/adlm/FLEXnet folder.
- Double click on nlm11.16.2.0_ipv4_ipv6_mac_universal.pkg to start installation and follow the installation wizard.
- The license server will be installed in /usr/local/flexnetserver/ directory.
Change permissions for /usr/local/flexnetserver/ directory to 777

Open Terminal (located in /Applications/Utilities/Terminal) and enter the following command:

sudo chmod -R 777 /usr/local/flexnetserver

Note: Administrator password may be asked. While typing no characters are shown, just type out the password and hit return key.
Note: To start the license server only with elevated permissions (using sudo command), change permissions to 755 instead of 777.

Create /usr/local/flexnetserver/licenses directory for network license file location

sudo mkdir /usr/local/flexnetserver/licenses

Find the license server Host Name and Host ID.
Generate the Network License File in the Autodesk Account
- Once the license file is generated, make sure it has a .lic extension (e.g. adsk_license.lic) and is in a plain text format and place it in /usr/local/flexnetserver/licenses directory

Note: In this article we will refer to adsk_license.lic as network license file name. Feel free to change the actual name of the license file, but make sure to reflect the new name when using the commands below.

Create a debug.log file in the /usr/local/flexnetserver/ directory using the following command:

touch debug.log

To start the Network License Server use the following command:

/usr/local/flexnetserver/lmgrd -c /usr/local/flexnetserver/licenses/adsk_license.lic -l /usr/local/flexnetserver/debug.log

Note: If folder permissions for /usr/local/flexnetserver/ are set to 775, then use sudo command to start the server. For example:

sudo /usr/local/flexnetserver/lmgrd -c /usr/local/flexnetserver/licenses/adsk_license.lic -l /usr/local/flexnetserver/debug.log

To obtain license server status enquiry:

/usr/local/flexnetserver/lmutil lmstat -a -c /usr/local/flexnetserver/licenses/adsk_license.lic

To stop the license server:

/usr/local/flexnetserver/lmutil lmdown -q -force

Alternatively, run ps command to obtain process ids for lmgrd and adskflex and then kill those processes:

ps -ax | grep lmgrd
ps -ax | grep adskflex
kill -9

(provide process ids obtained by previous commands individually)

How to set up the Autodesk Network License Manager on Linux.

Note: The Autodesk License Manager (11.16.2.0) is supported only on the following Linux distros:

Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® 7
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
SUSE Linux Enterprise 12
SUSE Linux Enterprise 11

See System Requirements for the Network License Manager

To configure the license manager use the following steps:

Download Autodesk Network License Manager v. 11.16.2 for Linux from this link
- Download the nlm11.16.2.0_ipv4_ipv6_linux64.tar.gz file to your desktop.
To install the Autodesk Network License Manager run following command as root.
- tar –zxvf nlm11.16.2.0_ipv4_ipv6_linux64.tar.gz
- rpm -vhi nlm11.16.2.0_ipv4_ipv6_linux64.rpm
- The license server will be installed in /opt/flexnetserver/ directory.
Find the license server Host Name and Host ID

To obtain the license server system hostid run the following command

/opt/flexnetserver/lmutil lmhostid From the command output note the hostid in quotes, if the system has two active NIC cards, select the first MAC address. lmutil - Copyright (c) 1989-2018 Flexera. All Rights Reserved. The FlexNet host ID of this machine is "000c297949e0"

To obtain the license server system hostname run the following command

/opt/flexnetserver/lmutil lmhostid hostname From the command output note the hostname of the license server. mutil - Copyright (c) 1989-2018 Flexera. All Rights Reserved. The FlexNet host ID of this machine is "HOSTNAME=Centos7.localdomain"

Generate your Network License File in Autodesk Account
- Once the license file is generated, make sure it has .lic extension (e.g. adsk_license.lic) and place it in /opt/flexnetserver/licenses directory. If the directory doesn't exits, create it with this command: sudo mkdir /opt/flexnetserver/licenses

Note: in this article we will refer by adsk_license.lic your network license file name.

To start the Network License Server
- /opt/flexnetserver/lmgrd -c /opt/flexnetserver/licenses/adsk_license.lic -l /opt/flexnetserver/server_log.log
To obtain license server status enquiry
- /opt/flexnetserver/lmutil lmstat -a -c /opt/flexnetserver/licenses/adsk_license.lic
To stop your license server service
- /opt/flexnetserver/lmutil lmdown -q -force
- alternatively you can also run ps command to obtain process ids for lmgrd and adskflex and then kill those processes
  - ps -aw | grep lmgrd
  - ps -aw | grep adskflex
  - kill -9 (provide process ids obtained by previous commands individually)
To start the license server automatically after the system reboot
- Open /etc/rc.d/rc.local script as root and enter license server start up command in it.

touch /var/lock/subsys/local /opt/flexnetserver/lmgrd -c /opt/flexnetserver/licenses/adsk_license.lic -l /opt/flexnetserver/server_log.logNote: To ensure that the script will be executed during boot, run following command as root. chmod +x /etc/rc.d/rc.local

Make sure that all necessary ports are open:

lmgrd.exe needs ports 27000 to 27009.
adskflex.exe needs port 2080.

Note: Errors may occur if the network license file is corrupt or in the case of a combined network license it has incorrectly combined licenses. To learn more about combining licenses, see Combining License Files for Multiple Autodesk Products. Use the License File Parser to verify that the license contains the appropriate products and FLEXnet feature codes and does not display an error

Verify that TCP ports (2080, 27000-27009) used by Autodesk Network License Manager are not blocked by Firewall.

The FLEXlm® based version uses the following incoming ports:

TCP ports 2080 (for the adskflex vendor daemon)
TCP ports 27000 to 27009 (for the lmgrd master daemon, which uses the first open port in the range)

Note: If these port addresses are restricted by a router or firewall software, users on the remote side of the router will not have access to licenses controlled by the Network License Manager.

Verify that the client computer is configured with the correct license server name or IP.

Windows:

Clear license server information from the system registry.

Type regedit in the Windows Search box and hit Enter key.
Select the following registry key

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\FLEXlm License Manager]

As the key is selected, in right panel ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE will be visible.
Right click on the key and delete it.

Specify the license server in ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE system variable

Go to Start > Control Panel > System and Security > System.
Select Advanced system settings.
On the System Properties dialog, click Environment Variables.
Under System Variables, click New.
Enter ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE for the variable name and 2080@SERVER_NAME _OR _IP for the variable value.

Note: the license server information most often is recorded in LICPATH.lic file and can be verified there too. ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE system variable supersedes LICPATH.lic. Thus, setting the system variable is preferable when this error is seen.

If the license server is on a VPN or a remote network set the FLEXLM_TIMEOUT environment variable:

Go to Start > Control Panel > System and Security > System.
Select Advanced system settings.
On the System Properties dialog, click Environment Variables.
Under System Variables, click New.
Enter FLEXLM_TIMEOUT for the variable name and 5000000 for the variable value.
Click OK to save the setting.

Note: if needed the variable value can be increased to 10000000.

Mac/Linux:

Specify the Autodesk Network License server information in $HOME/.flexlmrc file.

Use a text editor to create a flexlmrc.txt file and save it in Plain text format (In TextEdit on Mac: Format - Make Plain Text) on desktop. The file content should look like this, except with the name or IP address of the license server.

ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE=@SERVER_NAME _OR _IP

If the license server is on the same machine as the Autodesk software, use localhost as the license server name. Thus, the content of flexlmrc file could look like this:

ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE=@localhost

Note: On firewall restricted network or when accessing the license server via VPN, need to include TCP port/s (usually 27000 or 2080) into Autodesk License Server service as follows: ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE=2080@SERVER_NAME _OR _IP

Once flexlmrc file is created move it to user's $HOME folder as follows:

Open a Terminal window
Type open ~ (Mac) or nautilus ~ (Linux) to open $HOME folder
Drag and drop flexlmrc.txt file from Desktop to the home folder.
To make the file a configuration file, rename it to .flexlmrc (please note . [DOT] in front of the file name) by running the following command:

mv flexlmrc.txt .flexlmrc (Mac)
mv flexlmrc .flexlmrc (Linux)

Verify that the license server information registered with the product is correct (versions 2020 and later only)

In versions 2020 and later, the license server information is registered with the AdskLicensing service running locally on the workstation. When changing to a new license server, the old server information may still be registered with AdskLicensing and result in the error above, if this is not appropriately updated. See the below steps to solve this:

Click the Start menu and type cmd.
Right-click on the Command prompt and choose "Run As Administrator."
In the Command prompt, run the following command, followed by ENTER:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\AdskLicensing\Current\helper\AdskLicensingInstHelper.exe" change -pk PRODKEY -pv VER.0.0.F -lm "" -ls "" -lt""

Note:

Replace PRODKEY with the product key correspondent to your product(s). See Look Up Product Keys for the full list.
Replace VER with the version you are using. E.g. 2020 for AutoCAD 2020.
Repeat this step for each software you need to reset.

Open Registry Editor (Start > type regedit > ENTER).
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\FLEXlm License Manager.
On the right-side, verify of the ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE key exists. If yes, remove it (right-click > Delete).
Run the software again.
Select Multi-user in the Let's Get Started screen.
Follow the steps to connect to your license server.

Downloads folder loads slowly in Windows

If you are frequently experiencing slow loading of folders in your Windows 10 computer, Downloads folder for instance, then you’ve come to the right place as this post will help you resolve such issue. Slow loading of folders is a common problem faced by many users even when they are using the latest hardware like SSDs. So if you experience the same thing, be it with the Downloads folder or other folders on your computer, there is a way to resolve that issue and make the folder load faster. Slow-loading means when you attempt to open the folder, it takes a couple of seconds before it displays its contents. In such cases, you’ll see a green loading address bar that says “Working on it” which can get quite annoying especially if you are in a hurry. And if you notice that this only happens in the Downloads folder, there certainly is something wrong. This kind of problem can occur on SSDs and normal hard drives. The main reason behind the occurrence of this problem is that the folder may have been optimized for viewing photos or other media formats which is why it takes quite longer than usual to load all the files and their thumbnails. However, since the Downloads folder usually contains all kinds of files like documents, zip files, audio/video files, etc. there is no need to optimize this folder for media files only because doing so is only going to make the Windows File Explorer slow in loading the folder’s contents and thumbnails which does not exist for many files.

Option 1 – Configure the Downloads folder

Right-click on the Downloads folder or the folder you’re having trouble opening.
Then click on Properties and go to the Customize tab.
After that, click on the “Optimize this folder for” option in the drop-down menu.
Next, select General items from the drop-down which might have been set by default to Pictures or Video.
You also have the option to apply this template to all the subfolders, that is if your folder has any subfolders.
Now apply the settings and restart Windows Explorer.

Note: Once you’ve completed the steps above, it should now make the folder content display a lot faster than before. Now try to open the Downloads folder which would not take much time as you will see the changes right away.

Option 2 – Run CHKDSK to check your disk for errors

When it comes to some issues concerning the hard drive or removable devices, there is a utility in Windows that might help which is called “chkdsk”. This error check utility can help with several issues in the system including File System Error -2147219196.

Tap the Win + S keys to open the Search box.
Then type “command prompt” in the field and from the search results that appear, right-click on Command Prompt and select “Run as administrator”.
After opening an elevated command prompt, copy and paste the following command and hit Enter:

chkdsk /r /f

Now if you are prompted to run CHKDSK after your reboot your PC, just tap Y and reboot your PC.
If CHKDSK is not able to find any errors, tap the Win + E keys and navigate the access window. From there, right-click on the concerned drive and click on Properties.
After opening Properties, click on the tab Tools and then click on the “Check” button under the Error-checking section.
Wait until the process is completed and then restart your computer.
Once your computer has restarted, try accessing the file and check if the error persists.

Expand right-click menu in Windows 11

Windows 11 brought with it a simplified right-click menu that has limited options. If you would like to bring the old Windows 10 right-click menu you will have to do some registry tweaking but it is doable.

Since this requires registry tweak, please follow given solution step by step

Press Start and type RegEdit
Click on Registry Editor
Inside registry editor find next key: Computer\H_KEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\CLSID\
Right click in the right part of editor window and select New > Key
Type in as a name: {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}
Right click on {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2} key and select New > Key again to create new key inside this one
Name inside key InprocServer32
Double click the “(Default)” key in InprocServer32 to open it
When the Default key opens close it without making any changes by clicking on OK. This will make its value property Blank instead of value not set
Close Registry Editor
Restart your PC

Once the system is up if the followed solution is applied you will now have an old school menu once right-click is used.

Productivity tips for Google Chrome

If your browser of choice is Google Chrome then sit back and enjoy the ride as we are going through some great productivity tips for it. So without further talking let's dive right into them.

Browsing using tabs groups in Chrome

If you have plenty of tabs opened during your browsing session clogging your screen then you will be happy to know that it is possible to group tabs under, well tabs groups. The good part is that you can name groups however you wish and even code them with color if you wish so. Right-click a tab for a website you want to put into a group. Select Add tab to the new group, then type in a name for the group and choose a color. Create as many groups as you want in this way. To put a tab into an existing group, right-click the tab, select Add tab to group, and select the group to which you want to add the tab. To remove a tab from a group, right-click it and select remove from group.

Send a highlighted text to another Chrome user

If you want to send some text or article you stumbled upon while surfing the internet, there is an easy way to do it providing that the target user is also on Google chrome. Highlight the text you want to share, then right-click it and select Copy link to highlight. That creates the link and puts it into your clipboard. Copy the link from your clipboard and send it to someone. When they click on it, they’ll be sent to the section of the web page with the text you want to share, and the text will be highlighted in yellow.

Sync Google Chrome via the account on multiple devices

If you use multiple devices there is an option to sync Chrome through all of these devices and get all of your bookmarks, history, etc. All you have to do is click on three dots in the upper right corner and click on synchronize. Take note that you will need a Google account in order to sync accounts and you will need to be logged in on all devices you are syncing.

Use multiple search engines

If you need or want to use multiple search engines inside Chrome like BING, DuckDuckGo, etc. now you can and you can do it very easily. Click the three-dot menu icon at the top right of Chrome and select Settings, Search engine, Manage search engines. Under the Default search engines section toward the top of the page, you’ll see a list of search engines you can search through without having to navigate to their sites. To perform a search using any of these engines, such as Bing.com, type bing.com into the address bar and press the Tab key. The leftmost part of the address bar changes, it will read Search Bing or whatever search engine you’ve typed in. Now just type in your search term and press Enter, and you’ll do a search with that search engine.

Search similar websites in content

When you are searching for content on google there is a very easy and quick way to find similar content on the internet. For example, if you want to find more sites similar to the searched site just type in the address bar in front of address related: For example, if you want sites similar to Microsoft, you would type related:www.microsoft.com

Open specific set of websites on Chrome startup

If you need and want to open a specific set of pages each time Chrome is booted know that you can. Click the three, dot icon at the top right of Chrome and select Settings, You and Google, then scroll to the On startup section at the bottom of the screen. Select Open a specific page or set of pages, then click Add a new page, type or paste in the page’s URL and click Add. Add as many pages as you want this way. That’s it for now on Google Chrome tips for better productivity, tune-up again to errortools.com for more articles.

YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO ACCESS ...

If you have encountered the “YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO ACCESS THIS WEB PAGE AS PER THE DOT COMPLIANCE” error while trying to visit a website using either Firefox or Chrome browser, then read on as this post will guide you on how you can fix this error. Apart from this error message, you might also see an alternative message that says, “Web Page Blocked! The page you have requested has been blocked because the URL is banned as per the Government Rules”. When you get any of the aforementioned error messages when visiting a website, this means that it has been marked. It is mostly recommended to not access the site as it might be blocked for some illegal reason. However, if you are certain that the website is legitimate and safe and you believe that it has been blocked by accident, then you can check out the given methods in this post to unblock and access the blocked or restricted website. There isn’t actually a straightforward way to remove the restriction on the website or the DOT compliance. And it won’t matter what browser you use as you will still get the same error. Thus, the best way to go about this issue is for you to bypass the ISP restriction. But before you proceed, keep in mind that the ISPs (Internet Service Providers) can block any website when a request goes through their servers.

Option 1 – Try changing the DNS

If the request to access the website does not go through the ISP’s DNS server, you might have a chance in accessing it by changing your DNS settings. You can try using the Google Public DNS.

Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
Then type “inetcpl.cpl” in the field and hit Enter to pull up the Internet Properties.
After that, go to the Connections tab and select the LAN settings.
From there. Uncheck the “Use a Proxy Server” option for your LAN and then make sure that the “Automatically detect settings” option is checked.
Now click the OK and the Apply buttons.
Restart your PC.

Note: If you are using a third-party proxy service, you have to disable it.

Option 2 – Try to install a Proxy Extension

You could also try installing a Proxy extension or Proxy software as it could also help you access the website you are trying to open as it allows you to access the blocked websites by routing the request through their server. Aside from that, it can also hide it from ISPs to make them look like the content is coming from the proxy servers.

Option 3 – Try using a VPN connection

There are instances when the network that your computer is logged on might have blocked your access to the website you are trying to open and so to fix it, you can try to use a VPN connection. There is a lot of free VPN software out there but just make sure that you install a trusted one. Once you’ve connected using VPN, try to open the website again and see if you can now access it.

Option 4 – Check the Windows Host file

You can also try to cross check the Windows Hosts file to find out if the website you are trying to open has been blocked because if it is, then it’s no wonder why you’re getting the ERR CONNECTION TIMED OUT error in Chrome. There are instances when some third party application modifies the file and add some websites to the block lists. So if the website is indeed blocked, you need to remove it from the list.

Option 5 – Try to contact your ISP

If none of the options given above worked, then you can try to contact your ISP as there are times when DOT clears a website, the ISPs are still blocking it. Thus, it’s probably better if you reach out to them and ask them to unblock the website from their end.

Changing the Ownership of a File or Folder

There are many times when you have to change the ownership of a folder or a file so that other users can use them as well or if you want to transfer files to them, or an old account has been removed and all the files need to be assigned to a new user. Windows 10 keeps all these files locked under the account by default which created a folder or file. So unless a user is an admin or if the file belongs to that particular user, other users won’t be able to access or edit the file. So if you want to change the ownership of a folder or a file, then you’ve come to the right place as this post will guide you on how exactly you can do that.

To get started, make sure to follow the instructions provided below carefully.

Step 1: First, you need to open File Explorer by tapping the Win + E keys. Once you’ve opened it, navigate to the folder or file that you want to change the ownership. Step 2: Right-click on the folder or file and click on Properties and then go to the Security tab. Step 3: From there, click on the Advanced button located at the bottom right part of the window to open the Advanced Security Settings of the folder or file. Step 4: As you can see, the current owner will be listed with the Change link available next to the “Owner” label. Now click on this link to open the Select User or Group window. Step 5: After that, click on the Advanced button once again and click on the “Find Now” button to see the list of all the users as well as groups that are available in the computer. Step 6: Then select the user you want to give ownership to and click on the OK button and then click the OK button once more to save the changes made. Step 7: This will take you back to the Advanced Security Settings window but this time, the owner will be changed to whoever user you’ve selected. But you’re not done yet as you still have to check two additional options to help you completely transfer the ownership of the sub-folders as well as the files. You have to check the checkbox of the following options:

Replace owner on sub-containers and objects
Replace all child permission entries with inheritable permission entries from the object.

Step 8: After that, you need to click the Apply and OK buttons to confirm and save the changes made. This will completely transfer the ownership of the file. However, there is still one last thing you have to do – you have to go back to the Advanced Security Settings window to remove the access of any other user on the folder or file. Once you’re there, remove the existing user to make sure that the only assigned user has the access to the folder or file.

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